The present invention concerns a wind power installation with preferably at least rectifiers and two inverters.
Such a wind power installation is known from patent specification DE 196 20 906.4. A disadvantage with that wind power installation however is that, in the event of failure of the generator and/or the transformer, the wind power installation can no longer generate or deliver any electrical power. In the event of failure of a rectifier and/or an inverter it is still approximately half of the possible power yield that is lost at any event, so that rapid repair is required in order to limit at least the economic damage to the operator of the installation due to the energy yield which is lost.
That known wind power installation has two phase-displaced stator windings which are arranged jointly on the same stator. The windings however are electrically insulated from each other and have a phase angle of 30° relative to each other. In the event of failure of a stator winding therefore half of the possible output power is still available.
In order to eliminate the fault and to repair the wind power installation service personnel travel to the faulty wind power installation and deal with the fault, either by a repair to the faulty or damaged components or, if repair is not possible, by replacing the defective components by a replacement part.
It will be noted that rapid repair presupposes inter alia that the wind power installation is quick to reach and if necessary spare parts can be quickly brought to the installation.
If it can still be assumed that wind power installations which are set up on land can be quickly reached in that way, the situation is already markedly different in relation to off-shore installations, that is to say wind power installations which are set up off the coast and thus at sea. On the one hand a suitable transport means must be available, with which possibly even large-volume and/or heavy spare parts can be transported and handled, while on the other hand the weather and the state of the sea must allow the installation to be safely reached, even with the loaded spare parts. Even if it is possible to reach the installation however, it is in no way certain in that respect that the sea swell and the weather will permit immediate repair.
It will be seen therefore that, if the swell is high or if the weather is bad, such as for example if there is a storm, it is definitely not possible to reach or repair off-shore installations, for a relatively long period of time, and therefore the off-shore installations cannot generate or deliver power for a prolonged period of time.
A further disadvantage with the previously known wind power installation, as also all others, is that the concept on which that wind power installation is based means that the dimensions and the inherent weight of the individual components become greater, with an increasing generator output.